Overview

A prolific artist, writer, designer, and political activist, the work of William Morris remains remarkably powerful and relevant today. But how do you teach someone like Morris who made significant contributions to several different fields of study? And how, within the exigencies of the modern educational system, can teachers capture the interdisciplinary spirit of this polymath, whose various contributions hang so curiously together? Teaching William Morris gathers together the work of nineteen Morris scholars from a variety of fields, offering a wide array of perspectives on the challenges and the rewards of teaching William Morris. Across the book’s five sections – “Art and Design,” “Literature,” “Political Contexts,” “Pasts and Presents,” and “Digital Humanities” – readers will learn the history of Morris’s place in the modern curriculum, the current state of the field for teaching Morris’s work today, and how this pedagogical effort is reaching beyond the classroom by way of books, museums, and digital resources.

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9781683930730

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Reviews

Teaching William Morris, an excellent new essay collection edited by Jason D. Martinek and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller, is in fact more broadly useful to Morris scholars than its title implies. The book explores the ways in which teaching can take one's research in unexpected and exciting new directions. This valuable volume provides both instruction and inspiration.--The Journal of British Studies Divided into five sections, this volume from editors Martinek (New Jersey City Univ.) and Miller (Univ. of California, Davis) presents a range of perspectives from 20 scholars on the life and work of William Morris. The editors have approached Morris's work holistically, addressing the multidimensional aspects of his many fields of study in the Victorian era. Although most of the essays reinforce the notion that Morris is difficult to teach, undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from his oeuvre as they analyze his conscious rejections of social, aesthetic, and political forms in his literary writings. Morris's critical hope will help students imagine a better world. In sum, teachers will find all 19 chapters packed with ideas and valuable notes that extend beyond an instructor's basic knowledge. For example, chapter 19 in the book's final section, titled Digital Humanities, uses the William Morris Archive as well as artifacts of the Arts and Crafts movement employing Google images to demonstrate that technology and art overlap. Ultimately, by studying Morris students can glean new connections to the past that offer inspiration for the present. This text is especially valuable for interprofessional study. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals.--CHOICE

Divided into five sections, this volume from editors Martinek (New Jersey City Univ.) and Miller (Univ. of California, Davis) presents a range of perspectives from 20 scholars on the life and work of William Morris. The editors have approached Morris's work holistically, addressing the multidimensional aspects of his many fields of study in the Victorian era. Although most of the essays reinforce the notion that Morris is difficult to teach, undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from his oeuvre as they analyze his conscious rejections of social, aesthetic, and political forms in his literary writings. Morris's critical hope will help students imagine a better world. In sum, teachers will find all 19 chapters packed with ideas and valuable notes that extend beyond an instructor's basic knowledge. For example, chapter 19 in the book's final section, titled Digital Humanities, uses the William Morris Archive as well as artifacts of the Arts and Crafts movement employing Google images to demonstrate that technology and art overlap. Ultimately, by studying Morris students can glean new connections to the past that offer inspiration for the present. This text is especially valuable for interprofessional study. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals.--CHOICE

Author Information

Jason D. Martinek is associate professor of history at New Jersey City University. Elizabeth C. Miller is professor of English at the University of California, Davis.

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